Fabric quilts are often used as bedspreads, lap throws, or decorative wall hangings. Quilts are made by sandwiching a layer of filling between two layers of fabric and attaching them together by sewing through all three layers with many lines of stitching. A “pieced quilt” is a quilt with a top fabric layer that is made up of several pieces of fabric sewn together before the quilting stitching is sewn.
Often, a pieced quilt includes a central pattern enclosed by a border of large strips of fabric, as seen in FIG. 3. A popular method of embellishing a border is to make a pieced “swag” design consisting of generally crescent-shaped swag pieces arranged end to end and appliquéd onto the border so as to make a scalloped frame.
A border composed of an integral number of complete swag pieces in each side of the frame is more pleasing than a border that includes partial swag pieces on one or more sides.
A traditional method of cutting swag pieces from fabric is to create a crescent-shaped paper template by tracing two curves of different radius. Frequently, the curves are traced from two different circular objects, such as a large dinner plate and a smaller dessert plate. The two ends may be made blunt instead of pointed so that finished swag piece has a neater appearance. This traditional method does not require any special tools other than what can be found in any household, but it can often involve much experimentation to achieve a template of the correct length such that the border contains an integral number of swag pieces. The paper template is then used to mark fabric for cutting the swag pieces.
Handmade quilts, especially quilts intended to be wall hangings, do not always have standard dimensions. Thus, a paper template for cutting swag pieces is not necessarily usable for every quilt. Also, paper templates wear out quickly. For both these reasons, the tedious trial and error of creating a paper template must usually be done each time a swag border is put on a quilt.
Another problem with this traditional method of creating swag designs is positioning each swag piece properly before appliquéing it. Swag pieces are arranged easily if their ends are all aligned along one edge of the border strips. However, it is often preferred for artistic reasons that the swag design be displaced from the edges of the border. In this case, each end of each swag piece must be the same distance from the edges of the border. Unless this distance is measured carefully with a tool such as a T-square, the measurements tend to be imprecise, causing the swag design to waver.
Thus, there has been need for a template tool for creating the outline for a swag decoration piece of the correct length to fit around a quilt border of arbitrary dimensions an integral number of times. There is a need for a template tool that does not require the user to adjust the length by trial and error. Also, there is a need for a template that is re-useable, inexpensive, and sturdy.
Further, there is a need for a tool to aid precise placement of the swag pieces on the border. Also, there is a need for a tool that allows swag pieces to be easily placed without aligning the pieces on an edge of the border. Also, there is a need for a swag placement tool that is re-usable, inexpensive, and sturdy.